For Candidates, Web Is Power And Poison

FOR CANDIDATES, WEB IS POWER AND POISON
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Jose Antonio Vargas]
Candidates use the Internet to generate buzz, draw grass-roots support and raise record amounts of money. But in the intense, round-the-clock world of online presidential campaigning, the good comes with the bad. "The pool of negativity is much bigger, and it spreads virally," said Mindy Finn, chief online strategist for former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney's Republican presidential campaign. "The Web can be hateful." In many ways, the Web is more effective than television advertising and direct mail, the traditional methods campaigns and independent groups have used to try to define their opponents, political analysts say. It's cheaper, and it spreads information more quickly. But so far, anyway, its potential for affecting a presidential campaign is relatively untested.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/07/AR200711...
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